Still more rework of Day 2

Instead of dropping down south of the Arno at San Miniato as originally planned, I've settled on a more northerly route that doesn't hit the Arno until Signa or perhaps even closer to Firenze. This route is somewhat shorter and has less traffic, and passes through some beautiful countryside. Down along the Arno it is somewhat more industrial, probably because of proximity to railway lines and plentiful water and the traffic density is correspondingly higher. I had originally been keen to use as much of the Via Francigena as was practical, but given that for this area it is entirely notional, with no dedicated path, there isn't much point.

The terrain is mostly gently rolling hills with lots of grapes. Along the way we pass the Padule di Fucecchio, which is the largest remaining swampland in Italy. We'll get a good view of the area from the road as we pass through the village of Massarella. There are some pretty towns as well, Cerreto Guidi, and Vinci (as in Leonardo da-) where there is the inevitable museum and bars with evocative names. After Vinci the road through Vitolini and Camignano climbs over the Tuscan hills and back to the Arno at Signa or even later. It is around 400m of climb, but that is only 200m more than going the other way.

The wiki has been updated.

Flights

I asked our corporate travel people at FlightCentre what was the cheapest way to buy tickets for one of the preferred airlines (QANTAS, Virgin, Etihad, Emirates) and when to buy. The answer is that the November travel expo has slightly cheaper deals than the February one so it the best way unless I want to gamble on last minute deals (no thanks). These airlines are preferred because they offer 30Kg baggage allowance which makes all the difference when you take a bike.

So wait until November it is!

Personal decision - I'll take my bike

G. has provided me with feedback on the route for the second day and I will heed his advice.  From San Miniato to Empoli I'll choose a slightly longer but considerably quieter route. It is all pretty flat on the Arno plain. I only noticed yesterday that just before we get to Empoli the route crosses the Elsa river. Last time we rode in Toscana we crossed the river in Colle Di Val D'Elsa. Another arm flows through Poggibonsi.

So I've been thinking... rent or carry? I've decided on carry. Given that it would cost around E400 to rent something decent it makes more sense to take my touring bike which  I know is perfectly set up for the task. The only downside is the cheap Torpedo 7 bike bag which provides OK protection but which sucks for wheeling the bike in bag from airport to train or train to hotel. So for less money than hiring a bike I can buy one of the Evoc bags from Wiggle which will be much easier to handle. Based on the design of the Evoc I may make some modifications to the Torpedo 7 bag to make it more rigid and easier to wheel. So I'll pack the Evoc to close to 30Kg and take only a backpack and handlebar bag as other luggage. Of course I've still got plenty of time to change my mind again before then.

Update

My Evoc bag has arrived and looks very good. Now I'll have to test it on a domestic trip somewhere!

Route refinement

I'm working with G.'s advice to improve the route for the second day. I suspect that he is a little more traffic-shy than I am, but nevertheless if there is a quieter road then even if it is a little further it is worth considering.

On the same front, the section that I was looking forward to the least in terms of traffic, from Greve to the San Giovanni Valdarno, I have now considered alternatives for. Basically there is no other route that doesn't add a lot more climbing, bad dirt roads and/or many extra kilometres. In any event if Google Street View is typical then the traffic isn't bad. There were very few cars when the Google car went through and there was one bicycle. I think we'll stick to this route.

Local help

I have luckily made contact with another cyclist who lives not far from Lucca who has explored much of the territory that we will be riding on days one and two. We met via an Italian cycling forum http://www.piste-ciclabili.com. His English and my Italian seem about on a par so Google Translate is helping our email conversation :-)

G. has suggested a couple of improvements to the first day's route, but all in all he has given me confidence that the overall route is suitable. We are even talking about him joining us on part of the ride if timing suits next year. He points out the obvious: that Lucca is worth more than a lunchtime stop, but that's the way it is unless we add more days to the trip.

I should also report that the somewhat vigorous discussion that I reported in the previous posting (with a gentleman from a bike hire place) has been resolved to everyone's satisfaction. We have sorted out various small misunderstandings and I know now that very suitable bikes are available for hire from his company! The price is a little more than I wanted to pay but nevertheless it remains an option.

More lessons in listening to the customer

So I've been trying to have an email conversation with another potential provider of hire bikes. An initial email ignored, a followup ignored, another followup... then this conversation:

I still have not had a reply to my email below. I sent a followup via Google+ but still nothing. Are you still in this business?

We are in business but honestly is too early talk about September 2014.
I suggest to contact me again in december or when you have detailed list of cyclists and rental dates (from/to).

The dates are pick up on 8th September, return on 19th September, both Firenze. There are three adult male riders.

Do you kjow their height please ?

Sorry, does that affect the price? Or whether you have drop bar touring bikes with racks?
I don't want to make a booking, just to understand what sorts of bikes you have at what rough charges.

Yes, because every model have different features.
I sugget to contact me again in december when we use to make rates for new season.

Mi dispiace I didn't mean to cause you any problems, I'll find a company that is better set up to answer le mie domande. Forse Florence By Bike? You obviously have your way of doing business that is not set up to handle customers like me.

No Patrick. The problem is that we don't have rates for the 2014.
For me in this moment is impossibile give you an answer, is our corporate policy. I'm sorry. Feel free to ride with florece by bike. (Corporate policy, this from the CEO).

Well that's probably about enough for this conversation, but for the future, for other customers, maybe an answer like... "Well we don't set our rates for next year until around December, but to give you some idea, the rates for this year are...xxx. We don't specifically have touring bikes like you seem interested in, but perhaps we will for next year. If you contact us again in December I will know for sure. I'd love to be able to offer you exactly what you need."...would be worth thinking about?
I know, most potential customers would have just walked away but I find it difficult. For my job I am a coach of businesses about delivery of good customer service, it is 8pm on a Friday and still I am working. For you. For free :-)

I wilk make discount for this.
This afternoon italian time i will send you categories and 2013 rates, 

So do you think I should persist? I'm thinking no. 

Move to the Googleplex completed

Perhaps it is a sickness, but I tend to plan trips, especially overseas ones well in advance. That gives me the security of knowing that I can book what I want, when I want it. It gives me the luxury of having plenty of time to plan, to optimise, to replan...

It also means that I have MORE THAN A YEAR to wait for the ride, so to alleviate some of the boredom this is likely to turn into the best documented Italy trip ever :-)

To go back a few years, here is how our trips have progressed:

• In 2003 we visited Spain. This was the first of our web-documented trips, with a dedicated, hand-crafted web site and photo storage after the event on Flickr.
• 2004 was Turkey. There wasn't much planning to do (a bus tour) but I did blog the trip and collect my photos.
• 2006 was NZ (Central Otago) and there was a planning web site, once again hand crafted.
• 2008 and 2010 were in Italy. For each there is a wiki at PBworks, a blog at Wordpress and a photo set on Flickr. Note three different suppliers of free cloud resources: the best there were at the time.
• 2012 was back in Spain. By now my move to the integrated Google environment was started: the Blog was moved to Blogger to get better integration for photo uploading etc. from Android devices. However there is still a PBworks wiki and I still use Flickr as the ultimate photo repository.

So now it is time to plan for 2014 and the move to consolidate it all in the Googleplex is finished.

These already exist:

• The wiki at https://sites.google.com/a/keogh.net.au/apennines/ which is the "knowledge base". Everyone who "signs up" for the trip can modify these pages.
• The blog at http://apennines.blogspot.com.au/ which is a narrative of the planning and the trip itself: my view of it.
• A Google+ page at https://plus.google.com/117699810052162622303 which may well end up as the short term storage for photos.
• All the document and file storage (.GPX files, insurance documentation etc.) in Google Drive.
• A Google Calendar to hold a day by day schedule.

I will of course also create a Flickr group when the time comes. I hope that some or all of this will be enjoyable, or a useful resource, or at least a chilling warning about OCD behaviour :-)